Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #88772
Title: EXPERIMENTAL INFECTION OF BIRDS WITH ARCOBACTER BUTZLERI

Author
item Wesley, Irene
item Baetz, Albert

Submitted to: International Association of Milk Food and Environmental Sanitarians
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/19/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Arcobacter butzleri causes human enteritis and is frequently recovered from poultry. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative pathogenicity of A. butzleri for poultry. In Trial 1, 3-day-old chicks (n=62) were divided into 3 groups and infected per os with (i) A. butzleri ATCC 49616, (ii) a suspension of 7 field strains of A. butzleri isolated from retail purchased chicken, and (iii) C. jejuni. Arcobacter was not detected in cloacal swabs or in caecal samples of chicks through day 5 postinfection. In contrast, all of the positive control birds yielded C. jejuni in cloacal swabs and in the caecal contents. In Trial 2, 3-day-old turkey poults (n=85) were infected as described above with the addition of a group infected with a suspension of 4 field strains of A. butzleri from turkey meat. A. butzleri was recovered in either cloacal swabs or caecal contents of only 6.5% (4 of 62) of turkeys. In contrast, C. jejuni was recovered from 100% of the positive control birds (n=21). In Trial 3, 3-day-old turkey poults of the highly inbred Beltsville strain (n=142) were infected. A. butzleri was recovered from 44% of birds infected with ATCC 49616, 58% of the birds which received the turkey field strains, and in 100% of birds given the isolates recovered from retail purchased chickens. This indicates that poultry appear to be resistant to infection with A. butzleri and that the Beltsville turkey is a suitable model for studying the pathogenicity of this newly described potential human foodborne pathogen.